FOXBORO, MASS - For the first time this season, the top-ranked Greenville Triumph will hit the road for an extended road trip as they begin a stretch of three games in just nine days.

Triumph SC will look to expand its five-win record Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium against New England Revolution II, a club still searching for its first win of the season. Greenville will then travel to Richmond for a potential top-two Bon Secours Cup matchup on Saturday August 29th. 

As the target on Greenville's back broadens, the team continues to place importance on a day-to-day mentality and "controlling the controllables," as head coach John Harkes likes to say. After scoring his game-winner last Saturday, midfielder Noah Pilato said, "It all about preparation. It [the road trip] is going to be tough, but this team is built. And it’s built well. For us, it’s a day-by-day and game-by-game mentality." The club goes into the Wednesday night match against NE Revolution II with 16 points, a two-match lead over Richmond (No. 2 with 10pts).

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Scouting revolution ii

Revolution II, the development side for MLS's New England Revolution, is one of three new squads added to the League One table (Omaha and Fort Lauderdale). Playing a development side can often be quite difficult: rosters are ever-changing and deeper in numbers. Last weekend, Revolution II had its 14th player make a professional debut in GK Keegan Meyer (SuperDraft '20, 43rd overall), and we're not even halfway through the season. The Revolution II roster ranges from 18-24 years of age featuring all four selections from the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.

Revs II boast several players listed to the first-team getting in on League One action at the moment, including defender Colin Verfurth and midfielder Isaac Angking. Verfurth leads the backline with six clearances while 20-year-old Angking notched a team-leading two goals against 2019 League One champions, North Texas, last week.

While the Revolution II side has yet to win a match this season, they have tied two (Omaha 0-0, NTSC 3-3) and played Richmond to a very close 2-1 loss in which Richmond scored a late game-winning goal to keep Revolution II in the hunt for their first three-point effort. Regardless of the points shown at the table, the scrappy Revs II side is staying in games late and making play difficult for several of the defensive schemes throughout League One. 

What to watch for

A Full Game: There's no question that Greenville's efforts have been strong enough to get results: standing at the top-ranked spot by a two-game lead and remaining one of two undefeated clubs through six weeks of action. Yet, the Triumph haven't stitched together a solid 90-minute performance, expressed by coaches and players alike. Much of the success from Greenville this season has come during the second half of play. In fact, six of the seven goals Greenville has scored (1OG, 8 total goals) have come during the second 45-minutes of action. It's encouraging to know that the club still has so much room to continue the upward trend while already seeing so much success. But as the season draws on, and all teams improve and scouting reports grow longer, the margin for error will begin to decrease. However, when that full 90-minute effort does occur for Greenville, because it will, the question will truly become: who can stop them?

Exploiting the Flank: Greenville has been very successful when attacking the flanks and exploiting the space in behind fullbacks. With only three days rest, and one of them consisting of several hours of travel, look for several patterns of combination play throughout the match. Patterns such as playing into the winger, playing back to the fullback and finding a dangerous through ball back to the winger or to an opposite-side attacking midfielder making a delayed run behind the defense. Greenville's movement off the ball, especially at the striker position, has been spectacular and that should only continue to improve.

Cool Connections: There are several connections between the Revolution and Greenville Triumph players and coaching staff. For starters, head coach and Sporting Director, John Harkes, played for the Revolution from 1999-2001, making 55 appearances and scoring two goals. Harkes also played for D.C. United alongside Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay under current Revolution Sporting Director, Bruce Arena, from 1996-1998. For the player side of things, Triumph co-captain Tyler Polak spent two seasons with New England from 2012-2013, making one appearance for the Revolution first team. Midfielder Omar Mohamed and defender Brandon Fricke playing alongside Revolution II GK Keegan Meyer for the Des Moines Menace in the summer of 2018, and forward JJ Donnelly and Revs II defender Ryo Shimazaki both spent the summer of 2019 with South Georgia Tormenta 2 of the USL League Two.

MATCH WEEKEND DEALS

Southern Culture Hospitality Group: Head to Habitap to watch Triumph matches on their big screen get half off your first beer by wearing your Triumph gear! Getting take-out? LTO Burger Bar is offering a match day curbside pick-up discount…get 10% off with online code “Triumph”.

Item of the Week: All green and white Triumph jerseys are currently 30% off. Click here to shop! 

Clean Sheet. Clean Car: If the Triumph earn a clean sheet (meaning no goals allowed), you can get $3 off a Top Wash the day after at Fins Car Wash, no promo code required.

Tailgate Package: Download the Chick-fil-A app to earn special rewards the Monday after each match. Simply order food from the Pelham Road location, and put Together We Triumph in the special instructions box.